Cohort Level: Cohort - I

Career Goal: Join the Academia or Private Industry

Expected Graduation Date: June 25, 2021

Degree: PhD Electrical Engineering

Research Title: Development of a Compact Dual-band radiometer to retrieve Soil Moisture and Salinity Measurements with an UAS

Research Synopsis: I'm in charge of the design of the rf system of the radiometer. This system consist of the design of the dual band antenna (L/Ka band frequency), the power divider to feed the antenna array, and the RF filter for both bands. The antenna consist of a patch antenna for the lower frequency and an SIW Slot array integrated to the patch to transmit the KA band. This frequency where chosen in order to measure the Soil moisture and salinity with the low band, and make correction to the salinity measurements with the higher band.

The use of unmanned systems provides opportunities for more localized and higher resolution observations. These systems can then be used to complement satellite observations, and for calibration/validation of satellite sensors in combination with ancillary sensors. Our goal is to develop microwave sensors (passive and active) for soil moisture, atmospheric moisture and temperature, and precipitation, to work together in particular with the ATMS sensor in JPSS. UAS-based sensors can provide inputs to develop high-resolution products in combination with coarse-resolution satellite sensor information. The mobility and simple deployment of such platforms can allow targeted studies in areas of interest during and after flash floods, or other extreme events. Specifically, we propose the development of compact microwave sensors for surface (skin) temperature and brightness temperature for small payload UAS, to provide high-resolution implementation of coarse scale MIRS products, and cross calibration/validation for the ATMS sensor in JPSS, in particular for channels 1 and 2. The proposed research work consists on the design of a compact dual-band (L/K-bands) radiometer for use in a small payload UAS platform. The radiometer will be used to measure soil moisture (at 1.4 GHz) and ocean salinity (at 1.4 GHz and 24 GHz for correction of salinity measurements due to wind speed and ocean surface roughness). The focus of the work will be in the design of the rf front-end of the system (antenna, receiver, etc.), calibration, and algorithm development. We are currently working on a shared aperture antenna for both frequency bands, researching different types of radiometers and configurations to determine the most appropriate architecture for this application, and selecting the UAS platform to carry the sensor.